And the right thing came along at exactly the right time as Stuart Latham has just published the most delightful book about that fascinating sport called:
“An Alternative View Of The World Of Cricket”
Now, I ought to flag up here that I may be a little biased as I am friends with Stuart and we share a lot of sporting interest and we have collaborated on a few projects together in the past - but this book has really grabbed my attention and I am very much enjoying reading it.
It is written from a personal point of view – by which I don’t mean it’s all “me, me, me...!” all the way through – but the subject matter IS based around Stuart’s own involvement in cricket at various levels and he writes about the clubs that he has been associated with, some of the famous players he has met and others who he has admired over the years - including Jack Russell, Bob Willis, Farokh Engineer, Chris Broad and Hansie Cronje, among others.
A good example of this is the somewhat humorous “Ian Botham sanitary bin” story which, in fact, reminded me that I once saw Botham playing league football for Scunthorpe United – which is a story which will have to wait until I produce my own, admittedly shorter, cricketing memoir at some time in the future...
Stuart also has some interesting family connections within cricket and is directly related - via a migrating ancestor - to the former New Zealand test and ODI player Rod Latham and his son Tom, who is the current international wicket keeper for the “Black Caps”.
There is also an interesting section on the Hearne family from Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, from whom Stuart is descended and who produced a number of fine County and “All England” players in the Victorian era and beyond.
Stuart has written numerous books on many different and fascinating subjects, including ice hockey, rugby, motor racing and military history and you can find a complete list with order links on his sales website at: https://www.sandtsales.co.uk/online-shop
